Wrap me up--- ON TEMPORARY HIATUS
by VampireNinja96
Summary: When Gin disappeared, Hotaru thought that was the end. But what happens when the mountain God grants Gin the chance to return? Will they at last get the ending they hoped for? Gin X Hotaru (Story on hiatus for the forseeable future. Deeply regrettable. Sorry! D:)
1. Chapter 1- Wrap me up

Hello, I hope you enjoy this. I'm not planning to make it any longer than a few chapters at the most, but it'll be short and sweet with some cute moments. Like many, I was heartbroken by the anime's gorgeous ending, and wanted just a little more to it! Please review if you liked :)

"Gin!" I sobbed into his clothes. I was knelt on the ground, burying my face into that soft fabric, the sweet aroma he left behind. I could still feel his touch on my skin, the heat in my face as he kissed me.

Why must he have been so kind? Yes, Gin was a kind-hearted person. It was only bad luck that this kindness cost him his existence. But somehow, he knew it was our last time together. That was why… he seemed to be making _the most _of our fun at the summer festival. I felt it too, that he wouldn't return to our special place the next year. I felt that ache in my heart the entire time.

I'd grown up with him, he'd watched me grown from a little girl into an almost woman, and I unknowingly disregarded his feelings. If he really had felt for me all this time, he must have been heartbroken every time he saw my body change and my height increase year on year. Guilt swallowed me up as well as grief.

Still, he had been happy when he left. Smiling, even. Smiling because finally he was able to touch me, to hold me tightly and smell my hair. I was smiling too. I loved him too. He died without regrets- or at least I hoped. Because there was no doubt in my mind that he had… died.

Or maybe there was some doubt?

Because as I walked back to that house through the forest, tear-stained and desperate, I carried on gazing up at the sky as if he was there, watching over me and reaching down with his warm hands, beckoning me to join him. He was probably dancing up there right now, without that mask. That warmth I remembered still wrapped me up like a blanket, protecting me from the harm of the night.

The next year, I didn't look forward to going to my uncle's house for the summer. What was I going to do now? Sit on a rock by the water and grumble to the forest spirits? They were just as heartbroken as me. They had watched Gin grow up, no doubt, been with him much longer than I had. He had imprinted on their hearts, too.  
I skipped my usual route to our meeting spot, and unsurprised at his absence, I continued on into the forest, going the path we travelled on our many walks. I began to see images of his face on the trees, in the bushes, brief flashes of the times we had together. I remembered them with a smile. Soon, I came to the place we had one fished in together, a lake with lily pads and bugs and rocks to sit on and dangle my feet in the tickling coolness of the water.

I clambered onto the rock, grazing my shin in the process, and sat there. I stared up at the sky as I usually did, and thought of him again. I never stopped thinking about him through all four seasons. This was the first time I'd returned to the forest since that night, and my heart was thumping in my chest.

"Gin… I…" I mumbled. Soon, the tears began to roll down my cheeks. "You were always my goal. Right from the very beginning, you saved me and spent time with me, and you were someone I really looked up to. You were my friend, my precious, irreplaceable friend. I wish… I wish we had been able to spend just a little more time together."

_I… really need to see you._

Suddenly, it felt as though there was a voice speaking directly into my head.

_I see… Your feelings are strong indeed. I put that spell on Gin… to protect him always, to help him live, but I realise now that that was a mistake. Instead of giving him life, I gave him opportunity to envy the lives of others, to know the sorrow of not being able to touch a human ever again._

"You didn't make a mistake. You let him meet me. But… I just…"

_I know, dear human Hotaru. You have been faithful for this whole time. I believe I may be able to grant both your wishes, if indeed he feels the same way._

_… Yes. He wants this too. He is looking forward to it. Do not waste this chance, Hotaru._

Waste what chance?

I felt the air shift behind me. I dried my tears and hopped off the rock, climbing ashore. A light was enveloping the space in front of me, soaking up all the sunlight and the spirits around me. Slowly but surely, it took the shape of a person, a young man. As the light faded, the faintly silver hair spring to life, and his deep eyes opened. He stumbled for a moment, dazed, and then his gaze descended upon me.

This couldn't be real. This stuff… only happened in dreams.

"Gin… is that really you?" I whispered. He blinked, and stammered a few incomplete words. "It is!"

He glanced at his hand, and murmured, "I'm back… I'm truly back… I guess it is me, Hotaru."

"Gin!" I cried, and I ran at him.

He held open his arms, and I fell into his chest, tears tumbling afresh; the force of my hug sent us both crashing to the ground, still wrapped around each other, with me a sobbing wreck.

"I just can't believe you came back!"

"Hey," he said gently, "You really did glomp me this time, Hotaru. I think… I think I was brought back as a human."

"But why?"

He stroked my hair. "Does there need to be a reason? I'm just happy to be back."

I smiled into his chest, nodding. It didn't matter to me now. All that mattered was that my prayers were answered in the form of Gin's return. And this was the beginning of a story of a long time.

* * *

Thanks for reading ^_^ Review if you liked and wait up for chapter 2 :)


	2. Chapter 2- Baby Steps

Hi there, and here is chapter 2! It's taken me such a long time to write this, haha. Anyway, please enjoy and review!

**Chapter 2- Baby Steps**

There were some things Gin must have thought he'd never have. To be surrounded by love, a warm place where he felt safe that wasn't filled with the superficial protection of the forest... these things must have seemed beyond reach. And yet, he had actually returned to me. I swore to myself that I would try my best to give him all I could.

We were still in a bundle on the ground, me crying into his chest. I asked myself secretly if I was really going to stay like this, but in reality I couldn't stop.

"Why do you think you came back as a human?" I asked in between sniffs.

Gin sighed softly. "I don't know. I remember it being pitch black, and then the mountain God spoke to me. I thought it was all over, but before I knew it, I was back here, with you..." His voice faded into nothing.

I was fascinated by his experience- but most of all, thankful to the mountain God. I raised my head to look around at the mountain forest around me, privately thanking the spirits around me for bringing him back to me.

"We should probably get up," I said, giggling.

Gin rumbled a laugh, but refused to move his hand which was now fixed on my back. I felt my face flushing, but tried not to let on. Maybe I'd never be able to understand how he felt at that exact moment, but the guesses I was making right now were allowing my mind to run away with me.  
He chuckled again, and said into my ear, "You want to stay out for a while?"

I nodded a bit too quickly. "Yes. I'm kind of scared about what we should do about the future though."

"The future?"

"Are you going to stay here in the forest now that you're human?" Unable to hide the fret in my voice, I swallowed. "Where are you going to live? How do you prove your identity?" I looked at him, though this was quite a strain given our position.

He frowned. "Well, I was human once. I- I'm sure there's DNA testing... or something..."

"You didn't answer my first question," I said gently.

"Just stay out with me. I want to be alone with you, just for a little while. Don't worry, I'll get you home before your family gets worried."

The mischievous edge to his voice was slightly worrying, but in a way that made me smile.

Eventually he allowed me out of his hold and we both moved into a sitting position by the small lake. I stared awkwardly at the lily pads for a while, watching their gentle array of colour drift across the water with bugs landing on their surfaces. Their hums and flutters sliced through the silence between us. I couldn't work out whether this was a good or a bad thing.

"So, what have you been doing since I've been gone?" he asked, going to hold my hand in the grass.

"I'm in high school, so, studying. I'm in the cultural club at school, and we do a lot of research about old spirits and things like that... I... am I talking too much about me?"

He laughed. "No, carry on. You know I always like hearing about it."

I bit my lip. "Well... I'm not sure if my grades are very good, but I like to think I try hard enough to give myself some good chances. I don't have many friends outside of the club, but that doesn't matter because they're all so nice. Whenever we look at pictures and make models of spirits, I could never stop thinking of you. I even brought back your old mask to the club to show everyone." I said quickly, "I never said about you. I just told them a friend gave it to me."

He caught on to that. "So you still have it? You never stopped thinking of me, even though I just left you?"

"You left because you helped that boy when he tripped over. It wasn't like you did it on purpose. You know Gin, I can't pretend like it didn't hurt. It did, so much that I didn't think I'd ever be able to think about you again, because every time I did, I wanted to cry."

"You're just too forgiving."

"Is that bad?"

"No. Lucky for me, too."

We had never talked like this. Over the years, Gin and I have spoken of almost every aspect of my life, simply because he enjoyed hearing about the outside world. But never had we talked about emotions, our true feelings. Once, not long ago in his time, he told me about how we came to be the ghost-like thing he was, and that was the deepest our conversation had ever gone.

Although maybe now...

"Can we have more conversations like this?" I asked. Damn... were my nerves so bad that my voice had to jump up an octave at the end of all my sentences? And why were my nerves so bad anyway? I didn't even know where we stood in terms of 'us'.

"Yeah," he said. "Of course. And now... I can go to the outside world." He failed to conceal his happiness. "Do you think you could take me to see your house? I want to meet more people, so many more. And to eat all different kinds of food and be around the things that you see every day."

I laughed. "I'll see what I can do!" The boyish tone he had made me smile without acknowledging that words in front of it. It also filled me with sorrow and pity and more determination.

"Also... I want to clarify one more thing."

"What is it?"

He tightened his grip. "All those years, I hardly aged while you physically matured and grew closer to my real age. I wondered, would I ever be able to touch and hold the young woman Hotaru was becoming? Would I ever be able to tell her my true feelings for her? And then... at the very end, I heard some words that I never thought I'd hear."

"And what were they?"

"_I love you."_

"Oh!" I cried, slamming my hands to my mouth. Did I actually say that out loud back then?

"And what I wanted to know was... do you still mean it?"

"Yes, yes I do."

He leaned in. "So unashamed," he breathed, so close that I wanted to look away. "I waited years."

"So I can stay with you, as a human?"

"Sure."

"My mother will like you, I think."

"You're sure?"

"You're a boy. I don't think she'd care if you were Yakuza member with a buzz cut and twelve angry pet dogs."

"Well, that's good then." He paused. "Everything feels so different, so unreal now I'm human. I just want to try something."

He raised his other hand, and gingerly placed it over my chest, feeling my hammering heart underneath. I blinked at the surprising warmth and dryness. He stroked up until his hand reached my face, and then the back of my head. Then he was pulling me towards him, and he placed his lips tenderly on my forehead.

"I finally got to touch you," he smiled.

I stared at him, dumbfounded.

"When do you have to be back?"

"I guess about now," I said with disappointment, and it was too obvious.

"Can I come back with you?"

Really? Puppy dog eyes?

"I'd have to ask my uncle if you can have the spare room for the last week while I'm here..." I frowned. "We do have one. We'll explain all the situation we can!"

"Yeah, we will. No spirits, though."

My uncle opened the door to me, with Gin standing easily behind me. Well, it looked easy but why he was standing behind me was pretty obvious. He was so comfortable inside the forest, with his old friends, and this whole thing was so alien to him. Still, I would have been lying if I wasn't nervous too.

"Hi," I said in a high voice. "Uncle, this is Gin."

"Hello, Gin," Uncle said suspiciously.

Gin bowed respectfully and replied, "It's nice to meet you."

"Is this your boyfriend?"

I gasped at the insinuation. I had no clue what to say!

"Your niece is very special to me," Gin said simply.

So unashamed, to use his phrase. I decided to cut to the chase first. "Can Gin stay till it's time for me to leave? He, erm, he hasn't got anywhere to stay at the moment. I know it's a big ask, but please, if it's alright, can he use the spare room? He wouldn't be a bother, I swear, so please..."

Uncle smiled at Gin. "No funny business."

"Of course not."

He let both of us in, and Gin followed me about like a little child in his whole new world.


End file.
